Have you had enough? (Addiction with Fr. Hoar ep. 134)

“You can’t imagine your life without it, but you desperately want to let it go.”

This is addiction as defined by today’s guest, Fr. Tom Hoar, President + CEO of Enders Island Retreat Center, a treatment facility that helps addicted adults. More than seven million Americans struggle with some form of addiction.

Today, Fr. Tom debunks an often-taboo topic by sharing stories of redemption and healing – including his own. Don’t miss this critical conversation or the life-changing intent behind Fr. Tom’s poignant question "have you had enough?”

SHOW NOTES

• Fr. Tom references Jean Valjean's story in Les Miserables and how it reminds us that the best days remain in front of us.
• We live in a society where we are too ready to judge others and write them off instead of allowing them to show us who they really are.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: Be known for the content of your character.
• According to Cigna's Loneliness Index, almost half of Americans feel isolated or lonely, and those struggling with addiction or any mental challenge often feel alone in the room of a hundred people.
• To combat addiction, we need a healthy sense of self. 
  • We've filled our lives with noise + stuff, but it's not the noise + stuff that gives us meaning.
  • We've taken God and the sense of the sacred out of our society; causing a loss of inner self-awareness and contentment. 
  • Genesis 1:26: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
• After Fr. Tom stopped drinking, he felt empty until being introduced to Alcoholic Anonymous. 
  • Alcoholic Anonymous meetings offer a sense of authenticity + genuineness where people are sharing their story of experience, strength and hope.
  • Addiction is a disease that has physical, emotional and spiritual components. 
• Allow people to grow, develop + learn. Accept them for who they are today. 
• Fr. Tom’s poignant question "have you had enough?": Are you ready to really let go of the way you've been living, thinking and really allow God's grace to bring you down a new path, a path of healing and hope?
• Read a Boston Globe article about Fr. Tom Hoar here.
• Learn more about Alcoholics Anonymous here.

Thank you to my dear friend, Live Inspired community member Mary B. for recommending Fr. Tom Hoar! If you have questions or feedback, you can always send them to me and my team at podcast@johnolearyinspires.com.

If you enjoyed today's episode, Live Inspired Podcast guests Teri Griege share her story of overcoming addition on ep. 2 and Fr. Jim Martin on discovering our best life on ep. 57.

FR. TOM HOAR'S LIVE INSPIRED 7 

1. What is the best book you’ve ever read? The Gospel of Matthew. It challenges us not to live minimally but to strive for the life of virtue.

2. What is a characteristic or trait that you possessed as a child that you wish you still exhibited today? Curiosity. 

3. Your house is on fire, all living things and people are out. You have the opportunity to run in and grab one item. What would it be? A pair of rosary beads my aunt Helen gave me on the day of my ordination. It represents my relationship with God through true prayer and my family. 

4. You are sitting on a bench overlooking a gorgeous beach. You have the opportunity to have a long conversation with anyone living or dead. Who would it be? Jesus, of course. I'd ask, "Didn't your dad do a great job with this view?"

5. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? Don't drink and go to meetings.

6. What advice would you give your 20-year-old self? There is nothing to be afraid of.

7. It’s been said that all great people can have their lives summed up in one sentence. How do you want yours to read? He saw people in pain and tried to bring them a message of healing and hope.

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